Single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) viruses cause many diseases in wildlife, domestic animals and humans. These viruses are genetically and antigenically diverse, exhibiting broad tissue tropisms and a wide pathogenic potential. The incubation periods of some of the most pathogenic viruses, e.g. the caliciviruses, are very short. Viral replication and expression of virulence factors may overwhelm early defense mechanisms (Xu 1991) and cause acute and severe symptoms.
There are no specific treatment regimens for many viral infections. The infection may be serotype specific and natural immunity is often brief or absent (Murray et al. 1998). Immunization against these virulent viruses is impractical because of the diverse serotypes. RNA virus replicative processes lack effective genetic repair mechanisms, and current estimates of RNA virus replicative error rates are such that each genomic replication can be expected to produce one to ten errors, thus generating a high number of variants (Holland 1993). Often, the serotypes show no cross protection such that infection with any one serotype does not protect against infection with another. For example, vaccines against the vesivirus genus of the caliciviruses would have to provide protection against over 40 different neutralizing serotypes (Smith, Skilling et al. 1998) and vaccines for the other genera of the Caliciviridae are expected to have the same limitations.
Thus, there remains a need for an effective antiviral therapy in several virus families, including small, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses in the Flaviviridae, Picornaviridae, Caliciviridae, Togaviridae, Arteriviridae, Coronaviridae, Astroviridae or Hepeviridae families.